* All numbers are in millions except for per share data and ratio. All numbers are in their local exchange's currency.

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Aspen Technology Inc Annual Data

Jun08

Jun09

Jun10

Jun11

Jun12

Jun13

Jun14

Jun15

Jun16

Jun17

Cash And Cash Equivalents

132.43

199.53

156.25

318.34

101.95

Aspen Technology Inc Quarterly Data

Sep12

Dec12

Mar13

Jun13

Sep13

Dec13

Mar14

Jun14

Sep14

Dec14

Mar15

Jun15

Sep15

Dec15

Mar16

Jun16

Sep16

Dec16

Mar17

Jun17

Cash And Cash Equivalents

318.34

48.38

67.03

84.55

101.95

Calculation

Cash and cash equivalents are the most liquid assets on the balance sheet. Cash equivalents are assets that are readily convertible into cash, such as money market holdings, short-term government bonds or Treasury bills, marketable securities and commercial paper.

Explanation

A high number means either:

1) The company has competitive advantage generating lots of cash

2) Just sold a business or bonds (not necessarily good)

A low stockpile of cash usually means poor to mediocre economics.

There are 3 ways to create large cash reserve.

1) Sell new bonds or equity to public

2) Sell business or asset

3) It has an ongoing business generating more cash than it burns (usually means durable competitive advantage)

When a company is suffering a short term problem, Buffett looks at cash or marketable securities to see whether it has the financial strength to ride it out.

Important: Lots of cash and marketable securities + little debt = good chance that the business will sail on through tough times.

Test to see what is creating cash by looking at past 7 yrs of balance sheets. This will reveal how the cash was created.

Be Aware

Depreciation estimates make the calculation of net income susceptible to management's accounting choices. These choices can be either overly aggressive or overly conservative.

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